A one name study of the Mavers of Scotland

Welcome

I created this web site so that Mavers all over the world have an on-line gathering place so that we can all share are family history and connect with one-another. I will use this web site to host a database of all records that contain the Maver name so that hopefully we can all find what we are looking for. Needless to say, this is a massive project that will be fulfilled over a great length of time so I hope you visit often and see what's new. If you can contribute to this project in any way, please contact me.

This project all started when I created a web site at www.caimaver.com for my personal family history in 2003. Since creating that web site, I have received e-mails from other Mavers all over the world who were also tracing their family history. To my surprise, some of the people that ended up e-mailing me turned out to be fairly close relatives. I was also able to help others by sharing records of Mavers unrelated to me that I had collected over the years in searching for my own family history.

About the Maver or Mavor Name

The Surnames of Scotland states that the surname Maver is derived from the Gaelic maor meaning, "a subordinate officer in various capacities, a steward." The Surnames of Scotland also indicates that the surname originates in Speyside. There is in fact a place called Maverston, anciently Mawerstoun, outside of Urquhart near Elgin in north eastern Scotland.

In my own research, I have found that the spelling of Maver or Mavor is relatively interchangeable, especially on the older Scottish records. In fact, I have even seen the same individual with the spelling written differently on birth, marriage, census and death records. In even older records, around the 1600's for example, the name is often spelled Mawer. The Surnames of Scotland explains that, "In Anglicized spelling of Gaelic names w was often used for v." The idea that a surname must be spelled a certain way is a very modern idea that our ancestors would probably find strange.

While this web site will focus on Mavers with a Scottish background, the surname Maver also exists independently as an English surname, a German surname, an Italian surname, and a Czechoslovakian surname. The English surname Maver comes from mawer and is an occupational surname for someone who is a mower of fields. While these families may not be related to the Scottish branch, I encourage Mavers of all backgrounds to use this web site to post messages and share records.

On this web site, I will use the spelling "Maver" when referring to the surname and related families in a general sense though I will always spell an individual's surname exactly as it is given on their records.